


Mayday

by Pinky_and_the_Brain



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: BAMF Human!Steven, COME GET UR GAY STEVEN X STEVEN HERE, Dorks in Love, First Kiss, Fluff, Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Kissing, Love Confessions, M/M, Minor Blood and Gore, Nipple Play, Pining, Small subplot, Stevencest - Freeform, Violence, Whump, gem sensitivity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-16
Updated: 2020-05-03
Packaged: 2021-02-27 19:15:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 12,989
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22750855
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pinky_and_the_Brain/pseuds/Pinky_and_the_Brain
Summary: Steven lets his halves take control of a dangerous situation.
Relationships: Pink Steven Universe/Steven Universe
Comments: 23
Kudos: 269





	1. On Board

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry for the cliffhanger!
> 
> A big thank you to Pinky for helping this fic, and this account, come to fruition.
> 
> If you dislike stevencest or are under 16, please exit and find another fic to read. I do not want to make anyone unhappy or have my words influence anyone of those demographics, and appreciate your understanding.
> 
> -Brain

A solo mission. It was supposed to be a quick, simple, solo mission.

Steven had assumed the call from the hand ship orbiting low above the Earth was simply asking for permission to land; the Topaz who contacted him seemed nervous. He chalked it up to more gems being new to the concept of personal freedom; and with nothing better to do, Steven decided he may as well greet them personally, warping from the temple floor to the ship.

Almost 5 years since Era 3 had begun, Steven felt justified to assume the majority of gems would have either given up on trying to ‘bring back the glory of the Gem Empire’, or at least stop actively attacking Earth in careless anger.

Steven had assumed wrong.

Before he could even take a breath to speak, he was almost immediately _thwacked_ in the stomach, just above his gem. As he had tumbled across the metallic room, he did his best to take note of his surroundings through the sudden pain.

_3- no, 4 Topazes._

_Multiple corridors leading away from this central control room._

Another Topaz brought her mace swinging down onto the warp pad. _Great. Gonna need another exit._

Steven was grateful Peridot made him listen to her lectures on gem technology- he knew exactly where to find the cockpit. If need be, he might be able to control the ship from here, if he could just get the time to access the control panels lining some of the walls. First things first, he’d have to get around his attackers who were quickly advancing on his position. He had been thrown nearly to a far wall, thankfully coming to a stop before he could smack into it, but it had left him cornered.

He pulled himself to his feet, his bubbles forming around his fists instinctively. His odds weren’t great in this situation, but he hoped the Topaz’ hesitation to attack meant they weren’t aware of that fact. 

“Please, stand down! We can talk this out,” Steven pleaded, forcing himself to lower his bubbles as a sign of peace, “We don’t have to fight!”

The first Topaz, the one to his very left, finally broke the tension with a loud cry, running forward and taking a large swing with her weapon. Steven jumped up just out of reach as it crashed into the wall next to them; while floating above her, he quickly summoned a shield and sent it hurtling towards the angered gem. It passed through the Topaz’ form with little resistance, her face turning to shock before both her and her weapon dissipated.

Steven quickly landed on the ground in time to duck as yet another mace was swung at him, narrowly avoiding being knocked in the head with the blunt weapon. This Topaz was much faster, her swings barely giving him any time to dodge, forcing him to back up from her ferocity. 

His focus was so tuned into finding an opening to attack, he realized too late where she was directing his footwork. Bringing a shield up to temporarily block her constant blows, he risked turning his head to find the other two hostile gems-

A hard hit directly against his back sent him flying yet again; the force of the impact sent him to the other side of the room, giving him a few valuable moments to collect himself before they could reach him. 

Steven gasped for breath, the mace- no, the pugil stick- knocked the wind out of him, his eyes watery from the shock. Through his blurry vision, he finally realized where the other two Topaz’ had gone.

A large Topaz fusion was approaching his crumpled form, a smirk on her face as she expertly flipped the pugil stick in her hand. 

_Get up._

Close behind her was the Topaz who distracted him; her mace must’ve been dissipated, as she held a slightly smaller weapon...it seemed to spark like a destabilizer, but it wasn’t the right size or shape. Steven’s current condition wasn’t helping him see or think straight, annoyingly.

 _Get up,_ **_now._ **

Despite this, he did his best to follow his head’s orders; between his lack of oxygen and his very bruised body though, he couldn’t maintain the strength to pull himself to his feet. He tried to take deep breaths as he tried to at least stay up on his hands and knees. He didn’t need to look up to know the two assailants were in front of him now; their shadows cast over him.

_Find the cockpit. Get UP._

He barely had the thought to summon his shield, his brain was running through the plan too fast, he couldn’t keep up. A hand flipped the shield away before pulling Steven up by the back of his jacket. He only now started to recover his breath and attempted to look up at his captors.

The hand on him belonged to the fusion, the smirk still on their face. _Annoying._ He didn’t catch her eyes for long; the sound of electricity pulled his attention to the shorter Topaz. Her new weapon was too close for comfort, an angry look on her face as she glared at Steven.

“What- What do you _want,_ ” Steven hoarsely cried, his frustration getting the better of him. “I’m not Pink, I’m not- I’m not Rose, I didn’t _force_ the Diamonds to change-”  
  
The glare on the Topaz’ face turned to unbridled rage at the mention of the Diamonds.

Ah, that’s what it was.

Steven didn’t get to finish his sentence as she jabbed her weapon at Steven, making contact just above his gem where he was initially hit. He immediately knew this wasn’t a destabilizer, at least not a normal one.

The electricity coursing through him wasn’t tingly as he thought it’d be, it was _fire._ It being so close to his gem made it so much worse; being poofed wasn’t a threat to him, but with the way the attack made his entire body tense, he wished it was.

What felt like ages wasn’t more than 15 seconds before the Topaz pulled back, assessing the damage. Steven slumped in his jacket; his gem bounced remnants of the burning energy, making him want to curl in on himself.

He was about ready to blackout, but willed himself to stay awake. He needed to watch for an opening to escape. _Like that’s gonna happen any time soon._

“ _How_ is he not poofed?” Steven flinched at the harsh voice coming from the Topaz that electrified him; he had been enjoying the silence. “They said this thing could poof a Diamond, and what’s in front of us? _An unpoofed Diamond!”_ She yelled at her colleague in frustration.

The fusion remained calm, her tone almost bored. “They told us he isn’t just a Diamond, remember? He’s got that weird fleshy shell around him. Look, maybe we can just…”

At some point Steven’s eyes closed during their bickering; that last assault drained what was left of his energy. Movement from the fusion holding him alerted him to groggily look up. His body went cold as the Topaz’ other hand went towards his stomach. Towards his _gem._

“Wh...Don’t. _Don’t,”_ Just speaking took too much energy, but his hands still went to pathetically try to deter the hand now wrapped around his gem.

_Not again._

The Topaz was a bit clumsy in trying to get a proper hold on his gem.

_I don’t have the energy to fight._

The fingers finally got a good grip around his gem’s girdle.

_I can try. We have to try._

The tugging sensation was quickly growing uncomfortable as the Topaz tested the strength of their bond. Glowing pink lines started to spread from his gem, his breathing growing shallow in panic.

_Save our energy. You aren’t in the state to fight._

The Topaz grew impatient. Steven wished she’d just get it over with; her hesitation was only prolonging his suffering. He realized he didn’t have any way around this.

_I’ll protect you._

Steven’s hands dropped in defeat, eyes scrunched. He let out one last sigh, letting his body succumb to the pain.

_Let go, Avo._

The pink lines faded from his stomach as Topaz suddenly pulled her hand back with the pink diamond. It took no more than a couple seconds for it to start reforming, Topaz letting go as it floated in it’s bright pink light. Without thinking twice, she carelessly threw the organic to the side, her eyes not leaving the Diamond in front of her. 

* * *

The two Topaz’ backed up, staring down dumbfounded at the glowing pink form in front of them. The same form that they’ve been fighting for the past 10 minutes. The form that they beat up and electrocuted. 

They couldn’t read his emotions, but they could take a guess.

This didn’t stop the angrier short Topaz from speaking up, albeit nervously. “You...Where’s Pink? How-how did you...?” Her attempt to intimidate died on her tongue as the Diamond stared her down.

It was his turn to be angry at the mention of a Diamond. “ **Pink is gone. Rose is gone. The Diamonds are not your leader,** ” His voice boomed, the floors and walls vibrating from the echo. “ **You think too highly of yourselves by assuming otherwise. We,** ” A pink hand slowly, shakily pointed to each Topaz. “ **Are equals. For better or worse.** **Stand down.** ”

Topaz huffed, an indignant, betrayed look replacing her anger, “Pink…. _You_ are Pink! How can you just….just _forget us like that?_ ” The short Topaz’ voice cracked. “You abandoned us, all of us….” Her voice died off; unable to stand the unfeeling pink eyes staring at her, she looked down and turned towards her fusion companion.

The fusion took a small step forward, voice smooth but distraught, “Please, Pink….we came all this way to find you. We only want to be with you again,” Topaz spread her arms, looking for an embrace, eyes hopeful. “And...and with the new laws you’ve created, you don’t have to worry about hiding us! Please.” 

The diamond in front of her remained emotionless to her begging. She didn’t understand. They came all this way...for what? 

To be ditched again?

The fusion looked down at her partner; the defeat in her usually fiery form made her feel heartbroken... _all this way..._ the heartbreak turned to anger, dripping, hot anger. She swiftly turned her head back towards the Diamond, a new rage sparking within her. Her eyes met with a shaky form, the Diamond that she once knew now sat on his knees, barely able to keep his head up to maintain eye contact.

Fused Topaz wanted to feel pity- but she heeded the Diamonds words. This wasn’t Pink. _Pink is gone._ The small, pathetic form in front of her solidified the fact in her mind. Her newfound anger continued to grow, her weapon forming on instinct-

“What- Give that back!” A startled shout from the short Topaz next to her broke her focus, turning her head in time to see the organic she tossed aside earlier running to the Diamonds side. Upon closer inspection, the realized the human had stolen the destabilizer from her companion; in his other hand-

“ _Don’t take another step!_ ” The human warned. He held up the destabilizer in one hand, and a Topaz gem in the other. The proximity of the two items made her form run cold. 

“Wait, wait- we won’t move, just, please- put her down, we’ll listen!” The short Topaz nearly broke into hysterics, while the Topaz fusion could only stare in shock, eyes locked on her captured partner.

The human’s eyes softened for a second, before returning to an angry, wide-eyed glare. To their relief, he lowered the weapon and gem, but kept them held close enough to remain a threat. 

Without breaking eye contact with the short Topaz, the human slightly turned his head down towards his pink duplicate. “Are you okay, Avo? Can you stand?” He urgently asked in a hushed tone.

The Diamond, _Avo,_ didn’t speak and his head still hung, but his arm reached up limply to grasp at the leg of his counterpart. With clear difficulty, Avo slowly brought himself up with the aid of the organic, leaning heavily against him. His body occasionally tensed; it seemed that destabilizer affected his gem more than the hybrid fusion let on. 

The organic was able to wrap an arm under Avo’s arms, who in turn held on to the shoulder of his other half, in an attempt to balance his weight. While the gem looked tired he didn’t seem to be any worse for wear, while the human was littered with bruises and scrapes. Both seemed done with being on this ship.

Avo brought his head up to the human’s ear, his voice too weak for the Topaz’ to even hear. “That destabilizer- it was tampered with. We need to leave, _now,_ Mori. You aren’t safe like this.” 

Mori looked down at his gem half for a brief moment, not risking losing sight of the Topaz’ in front of him. “Clearly, you aren’t either. Let’s see if we can bargain our way out.” Mori mumbled back. He had to drag his eyes away from Avo; this is the first time he’s seen his gem so exhausted of energy, and it’d be an understatement to say it worried him. 

Mori didn’t let that worry show when he addressed the short Topaz. “You want your friend back, and we want to go home. Think we can talk this out?” His voice was calm and confident despite his concerns. He brought the gem and destabilizer up once more, but didn’t place them any closer together.

The short Topaz met his eyes in fear and desperation, hands up in compliance. “Yes, alright? Just, please- put her down.” Her eyes started to water, the stress of the situation getting to her.

Mori could tell she meant it, and was honestly starting to feel guilty for turning this into a hostage situation- _but they started it._ He shook the anger from his mind, focusing on getting him and Avo home. He just wanted to sleep in his bed, and preferably _not_ poof anyone else today.

“She stays with me for now, but I promise no harm will come to-” Mori’s offer was cut short as the fused Topaz came charging at him, the speed at which she switched gear startling everyone, including short Topaz.

Mori felt like he watched her action in slow motion. Her weapon already summoned, her eyes betraying her silent, ferocious rage. The blunt mace was aimed at the boys’ heads, it could easily knock both Avo and Mori out. 

Mori felt a burst of adrenaline, yanking himself and Avo to the ground as the pugil stick whistled where their heads just were. Knowing this fusion wasn’t interested in the bargain anymore, he shoved Avo’s limp body away from the combat. The fact that Avo didn’t even respond to his action terrified Mori, but he couldn’t focus on him at the moment, not with the fusion rampaging towards him, and furthermore towards his unconscious gem. 

Mori quickly bolted around the fusion, away from Avo and the other Topaz. He pocketed the gem he held, brandishing the destabilizer in front of himself. The short Topaz was the one to freeze in fear, still worried about her pocketed friend, while the fusion continued to make a wreck of the room- the floor took most of the hits, while some of the control panels were caught in her rage.

Between hits, the fused Topaz roared at Mori as he narrowly dodged her random swings. “ _You….took….Pink….from us!”_ She managed to trap Mori against a far wall, her face screaming mere inches away from his own. Her pugil stick was threatening to squish him into the wall, his arms shaking from the effort of holding it back. His hands were on the main pole of her weapon, one of which clumsily holding onto the destabilizer, the electricity popping off it getting dangerously close to both him and Topaz’ face.

The control panels she had previously haphazardly destroyed had been sparking as they struggled against each other, and with little warning a majority of the control panel exploded, sending chunks of metal flying and disorienting Mori and the Topaz’. 

Realizing he wouldn’t get a better chance, he fought through his panic to stab the destabilizer towards Topaz; his awkward position made it land on her clavicle- or where it would be, anyways. While the explosion had made her loosen her grip on her weapon, she was able to slam down the pole against Mori’s chest, bouncing him against the wall. She poofed almost immediately from the destabilizing energy, giving Mori room to fall from the impact.

His lungs burned from the hit, coughing up a small amount of blood as he regained his breath. As he came to his senses, Mori quickly looked up to assess the new situation at hand.

The control panels had quickly caught fire, threatening to cause more explosions. He could already hear and feel the ship shaking from the damage. He found the short Topaz across the room. 

Scrambling towards his gem.

_Towards Avo._

Mori had hoped she would at least be the reasonable one, but fury replaced any pain he felt, desperation giving him the energy to stand. Quickly swiping the two newly poofed Topaz gems into his pockets, he ran over to Avo, nearly stumbling over himself as he passed the last remaining gem to protect his other half. 

Avo had been laying near the wall, attempting to sit up but failing to get further than leaning on his elbows. In a ferocious desire to protect him, Mori held Avo’s upper half to his chest, his legs crouched above Avo’s. Mori stared down Topaz in a wild fury; eyes wide, jaw clenched, his stance just _dared_ Topaz to come any closer. He could feel Avo’s eyes on him; he wanted to make sure his gem was okay, but he didn’t want to take his eyes off a potential threat.

Contradicting what he was expecting, Topaz watched him in apprehension. “I wasn’t going to hurt him, we need to leave! This ship is going down!” The three of them tried to sturdy themselves as another explosion in some other part of the ship went off, further proving her point. “Please, I’m sorry she hurt you- but I still want to uphold the bargain! I can get us to an escape pod!”

Mori’s face slacked at her proposal, considering their options. _We don’t really have any._ The furious glint in his eyes died down as he nodded in begrudging agreement. 

Topaz sighed in relief, motioning for them to follow her down a branching hallway. “Come on, there’s no time to waste!”

Mori finally looked down at Avo, eyes giving away his worry. “Do you think you can walk?” He slowly started to help him up, wrapping his arms under Avo’s, his hands reassuringly holding his back.

“Going to have to.” Avo attempted to joke, but he knew it fell flat when Mori made a disapproving noise. “I’ll be fine, I’m already recovering energy.”

The two held each other up, following the Topaz down the winding hallways. She was impatient, always a good distance ahead of the pair. After what felt like forever, she finally stopped and looked down the corner where the hallway lead.

“This is it, hurry! I’ll set up a pod!” Topaz rounded the corner in a jog.

“Come on Avo, nearly home.” Mori tried to encourage the gem, but knew Avo was doing what he could already.

They turned the corner to find about a dozen pod doors open, ready to escape the failing ship. However Topaz wasn’t in any of the pods.

A sharp blow to the back of Mori’s head stopped any of his attempts to call for Topaz. Mori fell forward from the hit knocking him out, with Avo following his descent as Mori still had a hold on him. Both hit their heads on the ground, disorienting Avo as he tried to turn to see their assailant.

Unsurprisingly, Topaz stood over them, face full of guilt as she knelt down to pickpocket Mori’s jacket of her partners. “I’m sorry, I- We don’t want to be shattered, I’m so sorry-” 

She kept repeating herself in a panic, but it fell on deaf ears. Avo rested his head on the ground, the world spinning in his vision. He managed to turn his head towards Mori, who's unconscious face was facing him. He watched as his human half took shallow breaths, the shaken Topaz and distant explosions blurring in his mind. He still remained locked onto Mori as he felt them get dragged across the ground, into a pod. 

His dulled brain barely processed Topaz offering instructions on how to activate the escape pod, before leaving them inside the pod and shutting the door behind her. 

* * *

Avo wasn’t sure how long he was incapacitated, but he knew it was too long based on the explosions that shook him to his senses. He sat up; it seems at least half of his energy was restored, which meant he was out longer than he thought. He recalled previous events, how did they get in this pod-

He looked down to the body lying next to him, noting how shallow its breathing was.

_Mori._

With unnatural speed, he knelt over the human, hands splayed on the ground around Mori’s head as he assessed the damage. His focus was interrupted by the warm feeling on his palms. He turned one of his hands towards himself, realizing the red on the floor was circling Mori’s head. 

Blood covered part of his palm. _The Topaz._

He pushed down the anger he desperately wanted to linger on, knowing it wouldn’t fix the situation. 

Avo gently brought Mori to a sitting position, his body leaning forward limply into Avo’s arm. The wound and blood on the back of his head made Avo’s gem run cold, the blood now dripping down the back of Mori’s neck and staining the collars of his shirt and jacket.

_You shouldn’t have protected me._

Eyes wide in alarm, Avo shifted his hold so Mori’s head was leaning against his palm, the dead weight sending panic through his form. He brought Mori’s head closer to his and planted a kiss in his hair just above the wound, lingering for a moment to make sure the healing process would register.

Bringing his head back up a bit, Avo anxiously watched the gory cut slowly heal, small sparkles reflecting off the spilled blood. The skin magically sewed itself up, leaving a small scar that almost went unnoticed under Mori’s matted hair.

Avo took in a small, sharp breath. _A scar?_ His powers must still be unstable; he’s never left a mark on Steven with fully functioning powers. A weak cough broke through his concerned thoughts.

Mori groggily tried to look around.

“ _Urgh..._ Avo..? What- Where are we?” Avo pulled Mori back as he tried to get up, knowing his powers didn’t fully heal the damage. 

“Don’t get up. That Topaz knocked you out and escaped. She at least left us in a pod,” Avo leaned Mori against a seat, hesitant to leave his side. “Stay here, we need to detach from the main ship.”

Mori slumped a bit, still out of it. “Not goin’ anywhere.” He halfheartedly joked.

Quickly hopping into the main seat, Avo activated the pod and set their course for Earth. He felt the pod shake as it uncoupled from the destroyed ship, preparing to launch. A distant rumble knocked the outer shell of their vessel; more rumbles joining in.

The hand ship had finally had enough; the main cores were exploding.

Dread filled his gem as Avo rushed to where Mori sat, shaking the human to his senses.

“Mori. _Mori!_ ” the urgency of his voice made Mori look up, rapidly blinking as he tried to pay attention, “Fuse with me, _now!_ ” 

Avo’s fear infected Mori- he had never seen his gem look so afraid. Adrenaline shot through Mori’s system as he felt the pod shake violently; Avo pulled him into a tight hug, nearly hurting his bruised back and chest.

A warm glow distracted the chaos running through Mori’s mind; he weakly brought his arms up to match Avo, before the glow enveloped them both.

. . . . .

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the cliffhanger; we are working on getting the conclusion available as soon as possible. I wonder what will become of these two troublemakers?
> 
> Thank you for reading!
> 
> \- Brain
> 
> hEYEEYYYY WHO IS READY FOR SOME _GAY_ NEXT CHAPTER??? leave some comments because they feed us gremlins and plus we have SO MANY pink x human steven ideas its gonna be GREAT!!! Brain is nervous as hell but I know there's some readers out there that appreciate some gay fluff :P
> 
> \- Pinky <3


	2. Grounded

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heed the tags- new tag(s) added upon update, debating changing the rating to explicit  
> \- Brain

Hurtling out of the sky, the damaged pod came crashing down into a dense forest. The impact left a small crater surrounded by singed and damaged trees, the pod itself sporting a large dent.

The door was kicked open after a few attempts, and Steven stumbled out of the sideways pod, barely able to take a few steps before falling to the ground. Face down in the dirt, he let out a groan before abruptly unfusing. 

Avo and Mori laid next to each other, taking a moment to recuperate from the poor landing.

After the explosions damaged their escape craft and sent them careening to the planet below, Steven was able to reform and hastily bubble himself, hoping to stars above that Avo’s powers would hold for long enough.

Avo was the first to get up, his resilient lightform able to handle the damage. He sat on his knees as he turned Mori onto his back, finally able to take a proper assessment of his human. 

His hand was on his shoulder to pull Mori over, and it froze there as Avo looked over his body. Bruises littered his arms, and he could see the splotchy edges of where the pugil stick had smashed against his upper chest peeking out from the collar of his shirt. 

It seemed that any of Steven’s wounds had also transferred to Mori’s body; the short Topaz had been overly aggressive with the destabilizer, as his shirt was torn and blood-stained from her essentially stabbing Steven with her weapon. The small wounds were right above where Avo had sat, unable to do anything.

Avo’s hands ghosted above the stab wounds; he wanted to heal them, the need came like an instinct, but he was unsure how it would affect Mori in his unstable state. 

Mori came to, letting out a pained whine as he slowly sat up on his elbows. His eyes closed as he let his head hang back; the crash landing made his whole body ache, on top of the battle damage.

“How Steven of me to not see that coming,” Mori lamented. He ignored the feeling of Avo shifting his hand away from his abdomen, used to the dull pain that had been emanating from the injury.

“Mori.”

“At least she got the other Topaz’ off board,” Mori continued, “Hopefully they’ll come to terms with the truth...and apologize. A ‘sorry’ would be nice.”

“Mori.” Avo sounded a bit aggravated now, but Mori stubbornly kept his eyes shut and head back.

“D’you think the pod still works? Maybe we can fire the emergency flare-”

“ _Mori._ ”

Mori froze, eyes snapping open. Avo sounded much closer.

He tilted his head down to find Avo leaning over him, his face inches away from his own. Mori felt himself shrink back a bit, but stayed propped on his elbows. Avo had his arm on the other side of Mori, his form demanding he listened. His eyes held his signature wide-eyed stare, but his eyebrows were furrowed in distress.

“Look, I’m sorry I ditched you back there, but there wasn’t much choice-” Mori started to apologize, but the words died on his tongue as Avo’s expression turned agitated.

“You could’ve sustained serious injury!” Avo proclaimed, the stress reaching his tone.

Mori huffed. “Not to prove your point, but I kind of did already. Though it’s nothing you couldn’t heal-”

His retort was cut off as Avo used his free hand to grab the front of Mori’s shirt, inadvertently pulling their faces even closer. Mori would have commented on that fact if it wasn’t for Avo’s face betraying his extreme concern at Mori’s apparent lack of self-preservation.

“ _You could have died, Mori!_ ” Avo struggled to control his emotions, the memories of seeing Mori get thrown around breaking his usually calm demeanor. “ _We can’t know for certain that I can just bring you back!_ ”

Mori felt his heart race, instinctively bringing a hand up to grasp the one balling his shirt collar. He didn’t want to think back on it, but Avo was right- they couldn’t know until it was too late. Still, Mori couldn’t have just watched the gems torment his other half, right?

“It didn’t matter- it _doesn’t_ matter, Avo! Even if I didn’t make it, _Steven_ would still live on through _you!_ ”

Avo nearly dropped the human trying to process what he said, expression going blank. A few seconds passed. Then a couple more.

_Idiot._

Mori looked mildly offended, eyes squinting at Avo’s mutterings.

“What?” Apparently he had said that out loud.

Avo blinked, the dumbfounded look on his face immediately replaced with wide-eyed anger and disbelief.

“ _Idiot!_ ” Avo made sure Mori heard him this time, since he apparently miscalculated how dumb his human component could be.

“Steven is _us!_ Steven lives through _our_ connection, he can’t exist without you!” Avo was nearly yelling now; he watched Mori’s expression turn to fearful guilt. “ _I_ can’t…” 

Avo’s expression softened, his eyes starting to blur from the tears forming. His bottom lip trembled as he tried to continue reprimanding Mori. Curse his infectious emotions.

“ _I can’t exist without you._ ” He heard Mori gasp as Avo crouched over him, shifting his hold to tightly embrace Mori’s lower chest, being careful to avoid the bruises littering his human’s body. 

Mori held his arms up and slowly went to hold Avo’s shoulders. He felt blush crawl across his cheeks as Avo buried his face into the crook of his neck. 

Unsure of what to do in this situation, Mori’s nervousness turned to joking. “I mean, _technically,_ you live forever-”

“ _Mori._ ” The crack in Avo’s voice made Mori realize this wasn’t the time for jokes. He could feel the mouth next to his neck softly move as Avo spoke.

“ _I love you._ ”

Mori softly laughed; he knew he had scared his gem, but he didn’t think it was to the point where they had to remind each other of their connection.

“I mean I’d hope so; I love you too, buddy.”

Avo slowly lifted his head to find Mori softly smiling in sympathetic amusement. It turned to slight confusion at Avo’s more serious expression. He pulled Mori to sit upright before bringing his hands to Mori’s cheeks. 

“Idiot.”

Mori’s eyes went wide, contrasted by Avo slowly closing his own as their lips met. Mori remained still despite his shock, watching the gem intently. Avo had roughly brought their faces together at first, as if to get over his own hesitation, but had softened at their connection. 

_Oh._

At Mori’s lack of response Avo backed off slightly, their lips still barely touching as he opened his eyes shyly. Doubt started to settle in his form at the sight of Mori’s shocked expression. Mori could practically sense Avo’s growing uncertainty, and the almost hurt look that crossed Avo’s eyes made him move without thinking.

Bringing his hands up from Avo’s shoulders, he slid his palms under the gem's ears, gently holding Avo’s head and preventing him from backing up any further. The reassurance made Avo softly gasp, and that was all the motivation Mori needed. Scrunching his eyes, he led them crashing back into a kiss, any hesitation gone.

The leftover adrenaline of their almost deadly escape fueled their desire to be close; Avo’s grasp on Mori’s face had strengthened instinctually, only offering enough leeway for Mori to take in the occasional breath. Avo took advantage of these brief losses of contact by gently nipping at Mori’s bottom lip, trying to stay anchored to his human at every possible moment. Mori’s face flushed at this; his eyes opened for a few moments to gaze lovingly as he tilted Avo’s head, deepening the kiss.

Avo was caught up in the moment; he’d spent Steven’s whole life protecting Mori, working in sync to grow and learn together, as Steven. Every time they unfused in the past had caused them pain, to the point where they dreaded the idea of separating; the idea of just being able to look each other in the eyes hurt them, hurt Steven.

A warm feeling filled Avo’s gem when he realized that finally, _finally_ , he didn’t need to fear being isolated from their fusion. Mori gave Avo a reason to exist, and being able to express his loving gratitude to his human for that gift simply _exhilarated_ him.

Their mental link provided them with insight to each other's feelings, but Avo didn’t need to delve into it to know Mori felt the same.

Avo snapped out of it when he felt wet drops spill onto his hands, reluctantly pulling his face away from Mori’s. His lightheadedness was quickly replaced with soft concern as he watched tears fall down Mori’s cheeks. The human leaned into Avo’s touch as he wiped away the salty streaks his weeping had left.

“Mori? Are you alright?” Avo asked tenderly; his face lingered close Mori’s, watching earnestly as he blinked the remaining tears away before meeting his eyes with both elation and longing, a sad smile revealing Mori’s melancholy.

Mori faintly chuckled, “We’ve spent our whole lifetime together and we only just figured ourselves out, how oblivious could we be?” He brought a hand to cover one of Avo’s, pulling it over to his mouth to leave chaste kisses along Avo’s knuckles.

“Well- We didn’t- we couldn’t have known,” Avo’s voice was distracted, touched by the small sentiment. “We were too busy being and loving Steven for almost all of his existence; too busy to pay attention to ourselves...to love what makes him, _him._ ” 

Mori’s breath warmed Avo’s hand as he huffed, amused with the diamond’s rambling. 

“We were too busy loving each other together to focus on loving each other separately. We really are idiots like you said, huh?” Mori murmured into the gem’s hand; he looked up at Avo mischievously.

Avo smirked in charmed annoyance and pushed Mori’s face away from where his hand was held. “Incorrect, I said _you_ were the idiot, idiot. Don’t twist my-” 

He cut himself off when he heard Mori take a sharp breath, eyes wincing in slight pain from the sudden movement. He inwardly cursed himself for so easily forgetting his human’s current physical state.

“Weird…you’d think after all that I’d be healed ten times over,” Mori tried to alleviate the serious expression that Avo wore, but it only served to make his gem look more annoyed. “I mean- it definitely healed that near-concussion that Topaz gave me, at least?”

Avo quickly shifted to sit on Mori’s legs, giving him little time to complain. 

“Thanks to _Steven’s_ change of plans,” Avo growled, “ _My_ powers aren’t at full energy, and _you_ are wounded to a dangerous degree.” He froze for a second, squinting in thought as Mori watched him in indignant silence. 

“At least- as far as I can recall…” Avo muttered to himself, before abruptly pulling Mori’s jacket off in a surprisingly smooth manner.

Mori sputtered, finally speaking up at this change of treatment. “Wha- hey! What the hell are you doing? I’ll be fine for a while, if we get you home first then we can just splash some healing water on Steven-” 

His cries went ignored.

“The failed ‘change of plans’ was ultimately _your_ plan,” Avo stared back at Mori’s disbelieving look, unimpressed. “The least you could do is own up to it.”

Mori’s expression turned to flustered shock as Avo once more used his inhuman accuracy to tug Mori’s shirt off before he could object.

“Avo, this is _excessive,_ ” Mori complained, watching his shirt get thrown to the side. With how far up on his legs Avo sat, Mori had to grip the sides of Avo’s waist to keep himself from falling back. “Seriously, we could be in the middle of nowhere, we need to get home!”

A grin crossed Avo’s face. “Middle of nowhere? Lucky us.” 

* * *

Mori was stupefied, unable to do anything besides feel his cheeks heat up as he let Avo lay him back, the cool grass soft on his bruised back. 

Avo hovered over Mori, his position involuntarily reminding him of when he woke on the pod to find his human slowly bleeding out next to him. He shook the thought away, brow furrowing at the recollection. Getting to look down at Mori calmed him; the embarrassment on the other’s face sparking both amusement and protectiveness in Avo. He watched Mori’s blush spread down to his chest, the soft pinks mixing with the darker blues and purples of the injury marking his upper body.

_Never again._

Leaning on one hand placed beside Mori’s waist, Avo clutched Mori’s arm with the other, noticing the minor scrapes littering his arms. He brought his mouth to Mori’s inner wrist, planting a kiss over a small bruise. Pulling away, he saw the surrounding area heal; to his annoyance it seemed to only reach a short distance up Mori’s forearm.

Mori watched abashed as Avo trailed short kisses up his arm, slowly leaning over to keep Mori from sitting up. Intertwining their hands, Avo pinned Mori’s arm to the ground as he left one last soft peck on his collarbone. 

The heavy breath Avo let out on Mori’s shoulder made him shudder, starting to squirm under his gem’s fervent attention.

“Okay, look, maybe it wasn’t the _best_ plan,” Mori faltered for a second when Avo sat up enough to stare him down, “But- But we got out one way or another! I promise I won’t...won’t…”

Avo moved his hands to the sides of Mori’s head. He practically felt his other half’s brain shut down as he shut him up with a firm kiss on his lips; Mori tried to linger on Avo’s mouth when he backed up a couple inches to speak.

“I know you won’t.” Avo gently pulled Mori’s head to the side with one hand, his other moving to his exposed shoulder. He brought his lips to Mori’s neck and closed his eyes, settling there for a second.

Mori didn’t dare to move, only glancing down in Avo’s direction as best he could.

“But let me do this,” Avo’s words were warm against his skin, “ _Please._ ” 

Avo pressed multiple kisses against Mori’s neck, able to feel Mori swallow his nervousness. Mori brought a hand up to rest in Avo’s hair, moving the other to cup the pink hand grasping his head. They didn’t need words to know what the other was thinking; Avo could feel Mori’s thoughts flutter between embarrassment and compliance to what Avo wanted, between indignation and remorse for causing Avo to panic.

Mori’s hands shifted to grasp at Avo’s thighs as the gem’s mouth trailed down to his chest. He fidgeted at the feeling despite his best efforts to hold still, his hands tightening their grip on Avo’s pants. In turn, Avo moved his hands down Mori’s sides to firmly hold his hips, offering a gentle restraint to combat his wriggling.

The mark left by the Topaz fusion had made a long bruise across Mori’s upper chest, with enough force to almost break bone- almost. Avo planted his lips at the center of Mori’s chest, watching out of the corner of his eye as the bruise slowly faded outwards. He heard Mori’s sharp intake of breath above him, his body lifting up slightly in Avo’s hold, further pressing his body against the kiss. 

Usually healing had very little feeling at all, as if the magic had a numbing effect. This time felt _very_ different to Mori, most likely due to Avo’s power instability- it wasn’t painful, but the normal numbness was replaced with the sensation of his cells instantaneously healing. The shock of going from being in pain to good as new was almost literally breathtaking.

Avo sat up a bit to see that his healing didn’t reach as far as he had hoped it would. About a third of the visible bruise was gone, the remaining purple splotches littering each side of Mori’s chest. 

Focused on lessening Mori’s discomfort, Avo lowered himself to the leftmost mark. His mouth had only made contact for a moment before Mori jerked in his grip, letting out a surprised yelp. Avo snapped up, afraid he had accidentally hurt his companion.

Mori had partially propped himself up on his healed forearm, his face nearly beet red and staring flustered at Avo’s apparently accidental gesture.

“ _What_ was that?” Mori exclaimed, his breaths stuttering. Avo had been so zeroed in on maximizing his healing powers that he didn’t bother registering exactly _where_ he was healing- until just now.

At the realization that Mori’s reaction had been overwhelmingly positive, Avo grinned under his breath and moved both himself and Mori back to the ground, hiding his amused smirk as he placated his other half with a soft kiss just under the jaw. He liked Mori’s reaction, and decided he wanted to see more of his human’s passionate side. 

“That was me healing you,” Avo murmured a reply, his mouth moving to ghost the spot just under Mori’s ear, leaving a quick peck. “You trust me to do that, right?”

Mori shuddered at the warm breath on his exposed neck, trying to contemplate Avo’s question through his lightheadedness. He knew Avo meant… _something_ more than he let on, but he couldn’t be bothered to figure it out, too lost in the moment. Mori let go of his tight hold on Avo’s thighs; hands raising up to mindlessly fumble under the pink shirt, he wrapped his arms around Avo’s waist in an attempt to hold his gem closer, his palms flat on the diamond’s back. He already knew his answer to Avo, and he had a feeling Avo knew too. 

“Y-yeah...of course.” Mori answered hesitantly. Avo let out an amused huff and nipped just under Mori’s ear, hearing him let out a soft noise of surprise. 

Mori could take a guess, but still wasn’t entirely sure what Avo was implying; even so, he knew he truly did trust the diamond entirely.

He caught a glance of the light mischievous grin on Avo’s face as he settled himself back over Mori’s injured chest. Mori was suspicious now, but held still in an attempt to prove he meant what he said.

He almost immediately forgot that goal at the sensation of Avo planting a big kiss directly over his nipple, feeling hands slide to hold him just above his waist and pinning him from moving away. Not that Mori planned to; he let out a vocal gasp at the touch, his sensitivity skyrocketing. Mori’s own hands instinctively pulled at Avo’s back, bringing their bodies close, barely an inch of space between them. His back arched off the ground slightly from the unexpectedness of the gesture, pushing himself further against Avo’s mouth.

Avo stayed there for a little longer than he needed to heal that area, immensely enjoying Mori’s response. Dragging himself off, he watched Mori slump back to the ground, skin flushed and breath heavy. Most of Mori’s chest was healed now, the light pink blush now visible without the dark mottled bruise that had hid it. Avo brought a hand up, wiping away the excess spit he had left with his thumb, making Mori flinch and dig his fingers into Avo’s back for a moment.

His hand stayed at the side of Mori’s chest, thumb tracing small, soft circles over the sensitive area as he moved to what was left of the injury. Or, at least, what was left of _this_ injury; Avo still had a ways to go, unless his powers decided to jumpstart themselves sometime soon. Considering their situation though, he wasn’t as upset at that hindrance as he had been. Glancing up at Mori’s dazed expression, he decided to see if he could surprise him again.

Gathering enough healing spit, he brought his head back down to drag his tongue up and across Mori’s right side, leaving a short trail of saliva over and around his nipple. Mori had a much more vocal reaction at this, the startled exclamation escaping his mouth revealing just how out of it he was. Avo grinned and watched the bruise disappear outwards from the small puddle left on top of it. He blew air over the spit, making Mori shudder and his noises turning slightly frustrated at the sudden chill. 

Mori’s breath stuttered and turned into a low whimper as Avo grazed his teeth across the area, absent-mindedly biting into the skin but being sure to not do any damage. Leaving one last quick peck right on the nipple, Avo raised his head to check his handiwork. 

While still slightly wet from Avo’s treatment, Mori’s chest was clear of any sign of damage. The only ‘negative’ thought that crossed his mind during all this was the fact that he regretted not knowing sooner that healing could be such a fun process. 

“Thanks- thanks for the warning, jerk.” Mori joked in between uneven breaths. His eyes had been lazily closed in pleasure, but he opened them enough to glance at Avo, head slightly lifted off the ground.

“It seemed only fair, considering you we’re the one to leave _me_ with no warning first.” Avo smirked; he meant it lightheartedly, but he still enjoyed seeing Mori huff and drop his head back down in defeat. It was true, and if _this_ was his prize for putting up with it, Avo had no problem reminding Mori of that fact.

Avo’s hands moved back down to Mori’s waist, idly playing with the edge of his jeans. Looking back over Mori’s body, Avo noticed the smaller bruise on his abdomen; it wasn’t as deep a purple as his chest had been, but he certainly remembered that blow had nearly knocked Steven out. At the bottom edge of it was a smear of blood- where the destabilizer had struck them. He suddenly felt guilty- while he had been having fun playing doctor, Mori had been hurt and bleeding below him. Avo noticed parts of his own neon pink jacket and shirt had caught some of the blood, only furthering his guilt.

“Why didn’t you say anything about this?” Avo’s voice was quiet; his head stayed facing the wound while his eyes met with Mori’s.

Mori brought his hands off Avo’s now clawed back and leaned on his healed arm again, meeting Avo’s pained expression. 

“Oh, that….I-I guess, I forgot about it? I was a bit distracted by...well, by _you._ ” Mori explained apologetically, embarrassed at the fact. He really had been too focused on the touches Avo left all over his body; any pain he felt had been dulled upon contact with his other half. He assumed it was Avo’s powers starting to work, but when Avo brought it back to their attention he had started to feel the sting again. 

“Hm….I guess your healing powers are still messed up.” Mori brought his free hand up, going under Avo’s shirt to touch his gem curiously. Mori’s fingers lightly brushed against the hard surface, making Avo stiffen above him and breath in sharply.

Mori’s hand froze as he looked back up at Avo, seeing his face start to flush a dark pink. Avo had been watching Mori’s hand, but met his eyes as they both realized what just happened. For Mori, this was a very _interesting_ turn of events, his eyes squinting mischievously at Avo.

Avo didn’t like whatever Mori was thinking.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I could have sworn this fic idea was initially a bit more wholesome- not that I'm complaining. Pinky was an amazing help, making sure the boys had plenty to do this chapter; I can't wait for Pinky to be able to share the ideas they have been brewing up with you guys! We promise there will be more fluff next chapter. Thanks for reading!  
> \- Brain
> 
> Hey fellows it’s gonna get even _gayer_ next chapter and y’all have no idea how hard Brain worked on getting it all right!! Making out is a whole process lmao XD  
> \- Pinky


	3. Leveled Out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about that impromptu hiatus; we're back with the gays, thanks to Pinky saving this fic from an early grave. A few more tags added, by the way.  
> -Brain
> 
> FINALLY THE GAYEST STUFF IS HERE HSDKJFHSKJFS 
> 
> \- Pinky <3

Mori’s hand turned over so he could trace the cut of the gem, occasionally running a finger where the gem met Avo’s body. Avo had started to curl in on himself at the touch, bringing a hand to Mori’s arm, weakly grasping at the wrist. His other hand started to squeeze Mori’s hip, instinctively remembering not to crush him in his hold. As much as it set his gem on fire, he finally tightened his hold on Mori’s wrist, enough to shakily pull the hand from out of his shirt.

While gems don’t need to breathe, his time as Steven made him do it subconsciously. He took in shuddery breaths, trying to regain his composure as he looked up at Mori in both pleasured surprise and unamused annoyance. He huffed.

“I thought you agreed to let _me_ take care of things,” Avo grumbled; his mouth threatened to crack a smile, but he kept up his irritated facade as best he could despite the blush now warming his face. He pulled Mori’s wrist back down to the ground, keeping a loose hold on it to make sure it didn’t wander anywhere again.

“Hmm….I remember agreeing to a couple _other_ things, but I guess I’ll agree to that too,” Mori chuckled at Avo’s expression; he knew for a fact that Avo’s grumpiness was faked. He left his wrist under Avo’s hand, finding the warmth radiating off the pink gem comforting. Laying back down and setting his arm to his side, Mori had a wide grin at their new discovery. “Though I’d love to see what all that was about sometime soon, Mr. Univer- _!_ ” 

Avo bent over and kissed the gory injury in an act of shutting him up as he pinned down Mori’s other wrist, using his hold as a counterweight. He only used enough force to make contact; he knew it would heal in a matter of seconds, but he didn’t want to cause unnecessary discomfort to his human. Mori’s chest heaved beneath his lips. The heat of his skin at an optimal 99.8 Fahrenheit degrees.

Mori scrunched up his nose. While feeling his chest slowly heal was breathtaking, the sensation of an open wound magically stitch itself together almost overwhelmed Mori, making him see stars. He bit back his whine but his voice cracked anyway, ending in a cut off yelp- it still wasn’t painful in any way, but compared to his chest it was….more, just _more._ It felt like an eternity and yet also no time at all; his mouth hung open, his body strung with tension, eyes wide at first before scrunching up tight again at the intensity of it. The sensation pulsed through him. 

Avo lifted himself up, careful not to squish Mori’s wrists. He watched Mori take slow shuddery breaths. Sapped of energy yet filled with adrenaline, Mori’s eyes slowly reopened to stare at the sky in what seemed to be awe as he recovered. Avo counted his half’s bleary blinks as he waited for Mori. 

Giving Mori a second to rest, Avo brought his hand to the human’s abdomen, lightly wiping away the excess blood with his thumb. Their mental link usually was on the backburner of their minds, but Avo was able to feel a ghost of that jolt of magic he sent through Mori, without even needing to pry. Based on that alone, Avo figured surprising Mori twice in a row may just knock him unconscious. As tempting as it was to push their limits, he knew Mori wouldn’t wake up grateful for that.

Avo noticed that most of the bruises that existed above the bloody injury had disappeared with the stab wound, only a small arc of greenish-yellow left. Hopeful, Avo left a small peck in the middle of it, humming in relief- his powers seemed to be finally starting to work properly, Mori’s chest and abdomen fully healed of their battle damage. Good.

“What….oh my stars,” Mori said, amused disbelief lining his exhausted voice. He sat up, bringing an arm to wrap around the lower back of Avo’s jacket, their chests almost touching. A tired but content grin spread across Mori’s face at the sight of his diamond; Avo had a small smear of blood over his mouth and seemed entirely unaware of the fact. The dark reds made a stark contrast against his bright pink, almost glowing hue. 

Mori brought his hand to Avo’s cheek, brushing away some of the mess. Avo made a small confused noise but held still at Mori’s touch. Their faces were close, Mori’s amused huff warm on his skin, sending blush across his face.

“It’s nothing,” Mori’s eyes, half-open in relaxed content, looked shyly up to meet Avo’s intense gaze. “Just you being the idiot this time.”

Avo went to object but his words died on his tongue as Mori’s lips met his; his eyes fluttered closed at the contact. He was less soft when pulling Mori into his hold since he knew most of the injuries were healed, arms wrapping around his neck to bring them closer together. 

Mori hadn’t gotten all the blood that had clung to Avo’s mouth, what was left instead staining his own flushed lips. They stayed pressed against each other as long as Mori could stand it; he debated whether it’d be worth staying caught in this moment if he ended up passing out because of it. He finally decided to pull his head back, taking a big gulp of air before he got too lightheaded.

“Oh-” Avo realized what Mori had been referring to; he watched him lift his head away to breathe, seeing the red now smeared across Mori’s lips. The sight made Avo glow a darker pink, forgetting to close his mouth fully for a second as he stared. Mori wiped the blood off his own mouth and smirked, making Avo realize he had done that _expecting_ his reaction. He clumsily mimicked Mori’s motion, getting rid of what little blood was left on his lips.

Avo took a second to find where he left his rational thoughts before becoming aware that Mori had duped him yet again. _He_ was supposed to be the clever one here- not to mention all three promises Mori had failed to uphold, to let _Avo_ take care of things. Avo had one more trick up his sleeve, he refused to be outplayed by his other half. 

“Very funny,” Avo raised his eyebrows with a twitch of a smile, still flushing a dark pink. His hands moved to Mori’s waist, slightly lifting his weight off Mori’s legs but not changing his position. “But I wasn’t quite done.”

Mori was barely able to let out a questioning “ _Huh?_ ” before Avo had pushed him back to the ground and twisted him over in a matter of seconds. Avo had stood upon his knees to make sure Mori’s legs didn’t get tangled in the process; Mori’s breath was pushed out of him, splaying his arms and grabbing at the grass below him.

“On your stomach, you gay idiot,” Avo deadpanned. Mori was unable to see the shit-eating grin plastered on Avo’s face, but he just _knew_ Avo was having fun with this- too much fun, in his opinion. Avo sat on Mori’s butt, eliciting an exasperated yelp from his partner. Mori tried to wriggle out of Avo’s hold but found his upper arms pinned under Avo’s grasp. “That’s better. Comfortable?”

Mori was taken aback at the gem’s forwardness at first- it seemed they were _both_ full of surprises today. He calmed when he realized Avo had stopped moving, merely holding him in place now.

“I feel like there are more comfortable ways of doing whatever you’re trying to do,” Mori sputtered with a blush, turning his head so the cool dirt and grass tickled his cheek, glancing at Avo out of the corner of his eye. “Speaking of, would you care to explain? You haven’t even taken me out to dinner yet, in case you forgot.”

Avo had to take a second to realize where Mori thought this was going. He blew air out of his nose at the thought; of course _that’s_ the first thing Mori would assume. He wasn’t the Half more inclined to think of such things. 

“Calm down, I already told you- I wasn’t done,” Avo reassured him; moving his hands to just above Mori’s pants, Avo lightly rubbed small circles into his sides. Mori relaxed at the touch, arms slightly shifting down to a more comfortable position. Avo eyed the bruises that spanned over his half’s back. **_Clods_** _,_ he thought to himself with a hiss.

Mori’s upper back nearly matched the dark purple that had covered his chest; Avo suspected he must’ve been in more pain than he let on, considering Steven was struggling to ignore it during his fight. Avo trailed kisses up along Mori’s spine, eyes opening to see the injury clear much faster than his previous attempts, even healing whatever random scrapes were left scattered across his body. He heard Mori let out a breath he had been holding; looks like Avo suspected correctly. 

Avo continued up to the back of the neck, setting his mouth against Mori’s nape, letting the dark curls tickle his nose. He rested there for a moment, letting out a warm sigh; the breath tickled Mori, making him shudder. Avo’s shirt pressed down on Mori’s back slightly, the two feeling exhausted for the third time that day.

“ _Now_ I’m done,” Avo mumbled into Mori’s hair. 

“Mm. You sure?” Mori’s eyes had closed sleepily, the warmth emanating from the gem above him acting like a blanket against the cool breeze that swept through the trees around them. His words were muffled from his cheek being squished against the grass. “We could stay here, see how long ‘til someone realizes Steven is missing.” 

Mori felt one last huff sweep his hair before the weight was lifted off him, Avo standing briefly on his knees so Mori could turn back over. Upon their eyes meeting Mori grinned up at Avo, who couldn’t help the amused smirk that crossed his face in reply.

As Avo went to situate himself back to their original position Mori abruptly sat up, making Avo wrap his arms and legs to keep himself from falling back. He now sat in Mori’s crossed legs; beyond that, Mori offered no support, leaving Avo to cling to his shoulders and hips.

“What- _why?_ ” Avo sputtered; it felt ironic that the one person he knows best is also the one person who can truly stupefy him.

“You said you were done,” Mori’s eyes were half-lidded in mischief and fondness. Avo held Mori’s gaze as he felt a hand tangle itself in his hair behind his ear, ever so gently tugging his head to face over Mori’s shoulder, neck now exposed away from the collar of his jacket. “So it’s my turn, _idiot_.” 

* * *

Avo wanted to retort but his attention was turned elsewhere at the feeling of a hand reaching under the bottom of his shirt. His face flushed a darker pink as he tried to look down at whatever was brushing against his stomach, only to see Mori bring himself closer to leave a quick kiss on the side of his mouth, pulling away with a soft grin. 

Mori’s thumb lightly traced part of the gem’s cut as he ran a trail of kisses up Avo’s jaw; Avo couldn’t decide which was more distracting. The thumb pressed firmly against a facet, sending warmth crawling up from his gem.

While Avo has had to drop his defenses in less-than-desirable scenarios, he never expected to melt at a simple touch. Any previous alertness to the surrounding area was all but washed away from Mori circling the edge of his gem with a finger. 

As much as Avo tried to remain to look unfazed, Mori had caught on almost immediately. He felt Avo nearly go limp against him, head now heavy in his palm; through their mental link he felt a soft fuzz emanating from Avo. Mori was _very_ giddy at how easily Avo trusted him like that but held himself from outwardly expressing it, not wanting to ruin the moment. Instead, he hid his smile against Avo’s neck, focusing on leaving gentle nips rather than the urge to tease.

Neither was sure of Avo’s sensitivity, but Mori wasn’t expecting Avo to jolt when he tapped against the center of the gem. He glanced up to make sure that was the wanted reaction, relieved to find Avo staring off, eyes glassy in surprised bliss. Mori’s curiosity grew at the sight, turning his head downwards to focus on Avo’s gem. 

Mori pulled the shirt up and away to expose the diamond hidden under it, keeping his other hand up for Avo to lean his head on, fingers gripping at the pink curls. Their position gave him a sudden idea; his growing smirk and movements going unseen by a distracted Avo.

Avo’s shoulders instinctively jerked at a _new_ sensation that ran across his gem, bringing him back to the present. The feeling lingered after he felt the pressure lift, the strangeness making him shudder. Mori’s hold in his hair loosened but stayed attached as Avo looked down, seeing his gem shine...differently, a viscous substance smeared across the top facet.

_He didn’t._

“You didn’t.” Avo’s voice was shaky, the prolonged contact shocking his nerves. He heard a giggle as he stared at what Mori had done.

“Let’s call it getting even.” 

“I at least had a reason!”

“Well, my reason was to get even,” Mori said smugly; he used his palm to wipe away the spit he had left on the gem before it could run down. He had intentionally covered most of the diamond’s surface with his hand; the amount of pressure made Avo press his head against Mori’s shoulder, letting out a soft groan and scrunching his eyes at the intensity the touch sent through his light-form, the limbs he wrapped around Mori briefly tightening their hold.

Any snarky retorts in his mental processors died as he rocked his hips into Mori’s palm. He chased the sensation of it against his gem. Closer, closer, _closer._

“ _Please don’t ever stop,_ ” Avo breathed out, feeling Mori pause above him.

Avo realized the hand cradling the back of his head hadn’t left, instead, it only tightened. Mori tugged him back up so he could look Avo in the eyes, careful to make sure Avo followed his movement despite Avo being at least ten times stronger than him. Avo looked relaxed but he worried at his lip, a cheeky grin crossing his face at Mori’s expression. 

Mori was shocked at his gem’s earnestness but tried to keep a straight face. He felt his sternness start to crumble almost immediately at Avo’s goofy smile; a new look on him but one Mori _absolutely_ appreciated. He quickly brought his other hand up to Avo’s cheek before roughly pulling their faces together, mouths meeting in a fervent kiss. As if to say, _as you wish._

Mori licked at the corners of Avo’s lips. He pressed another and another until the corners turned up into a smile. Mori giggled. He licked at the entrance until Avo gasped and let him in. It didn’t slip his notice that Avo let Mori lead his movements, a hand tugging on his hair to tilt his head, being pulled back whenever Mori needed air. They moved in sync. A few inches of space felt like _agony_ after a lifetime together. In turn, Avo clung limply onto Mori’s shoulders, occasionally running his palms a short distance down Mori’s arms and absentmindedly kneading at the softer flesh.

Their hands didn’t _need_ to explore, they already knew every inch of skin, but that wasn’t the point. They smiled until their cheeks ached. Each kiss a soft smack of air and sparkles. 

Mori took in a breath, swaying away for a moment. Avo absentmindedly chased after him. His face twitched into a smirk as he leaned further away. Avo fell back into his orbit like his moon. Mori stuck his tongue up at him as Avo’s nose did a funny little twitch. His pink eyes narrowed. Then Mori tugged his hair back until their lips locked again. Mori couldn’t help the pleased little moan that escaped.

So what if he enjoyed teasing Avo? He didn’t get a chance like this very often when they were apart. Avo squeezed his shoulders as Mori nibbled at his lips. He couldn’t resist one last taste of flowers and sharp mint that Steven had earlier. His thumb rubbed gently at Avo’s cheek to tilt them deeper into the kiss. What was it? Their fiftieth kiss at this point? (Avo would know).

Pulling away, Mori’s hand dropped from Avo’s cheek to his inner shoulder, leaving his gem’s neck exposed. Just as planned. Avo’s eyes fluttered with heavy-lids, as he whined at the loss of contact; but cut it short in seconds. Mori pouted, he really hoped that Avo could let loose a bit after being kissed as his life depended on it. _Darn_. Hmm, his hand crawled up into Avo’s curls and tugged it until Avo tilted his neck up. 

He could always try a bit harder.

And get some revenge in turn. 

Mori kissed down the sharp jut of the column of Avo’s neck. No pulse point but had a persistent warmth under the skin. He dug his teeth in just a bit. Avo made a strangled gasp as his hands tightened on his back. Mori didn’t worry about bruises, Avo wouldn’t mess up his handiwork so soon. Mori licked over the bitten skin and blew a gust of cold air. Avo shivered. Mori couldn’t help but internally crow at the number of reactions he got from his gem. Avo rocked closer in his lap, another muffled little whine in the back of his throat.

“M-more,” Avo whispered with a quiet ring of notes behind it.

Stars, was that gem song?

Mori smiled into Avo’s neck and rubbed his face against it. _Of course._ Mori made another round of kisses up and down Avo’s neck. Avo’s grip against his back tightened with each loop. His pink fingernails didn’t even dare to break his human skin. Worrywart. Mori rode a free hand up Avo’s shirt to palm at his back. Avo wiggled, impatient and needy all at once. Mori paused in his kisses to sharply bite down onto Avo’s neck. Gems don’t really get hickeys without a good try (Amethyst told him that once).

Avo jolted but didn’t move his throat. All of that raw power and energy moved at his command. Mori didn’t take it lightly. He sucked a hickey into Avo’s neck as he rubbed soothing circles on his back. Then with a devilish smirk, he lowered a free hand to palm at his own gem again. Avo’s hips bucked and trembled, something dark in Mori unfurled at the sensation that he managed to make Avo lose his stoic mask at last. His grin grew. Mori grinded his teeth harder into the raised skin. Avo let out a cute little stuttered gasp (despite how gems didn’t need to breathe).

Mori pulled back with a wet pop and grinned with all the satisfaction of a cat that got the canary. Avo’s eyes had a cloudy sheen and took more than a few seconds to gather himself. Mori kept quiet about Avo’s little flustered pants, he’ll let the gem keep thinking he’s a hardass to the end of time. Heh.

Avo’s hands shifted up from their grip on Mori’s back, managing to keep himself upright while holding the sides of Mori’s head. 

Mori, confident that Avo had no plans to shift away at this point, moved his own arms downwards, briefly looping his thumbs through the belt loops on Avo’s jeans. Avo hummed in surprise once Mori’s hands situated themselves against his butt; the change in position was finally enough to get him to drag himself away from Mori. 

The hands didn’t move too much, mostly just placing a very clear pressure against him.

“Mori.” Avo was deadpan in tone and expression, but the dark blush he sported spoke louder than his words.

“Hm?” 

“...Really?” Avo’s brow furrowed as his embarrassment deepened, but he refused to further express it. Mori played innocent as if the friendly smile on his face would hide the fact he was almost absentmindedly groping his gem.

Avo shut his eyes in annoyance, a faux grimace holding back a frustrated growl. In a huff, he squished Mori’s cheeks together in his hands, eyes opening to see the ditsy scrunched grin Mori held. Avo’s annoyed stature softened, watching amused as he felt Mori’s laughter warm his gem. He felt hands leave his butt, coming up to try to pull at his wrists.

“Oh, are you _done?_ Are you _sure?_ ” Avo’s tone became giggly; it seemed Mori’s laughter was infectious as well. He kept smushing Mori’s cheeks for a few moments, preventing the human from giving a proper reply. Finally, Avo allowed his wrists to be pulled away, held up at the sides of their heads.

"Hmm...Oh! One more thing.” Mori pretended to look as if he truly just remembered something before quickly landing one more kiss on Avo’s lips, surprising the gem. Avo took a moment to react, giving Mori time to plant a few more across his cheeks and forehead before Avo pulled away in laughter. Avo’s arms struggled in their hold, but he didn’t bother trying to break free; instead, he opted to lean back, trusting Mori’s grip on him to keep him from falling too far back.

While Mori did hold Avo steady, he also used it to his advantage to pull Avo back up as best he could, making an exaggerated kissy-face at his other half in an attempt to leave a few more kisses, but fell just short of getting close enough to bridge the gap. Realizing this, Mori stopped and looked up at Avo to see the gem’s eyes had closed in glee, bringing a soft, genuine smile to his own face. Once more he felt relief wash over him; finally, Steven could replace all his jumbled unfused memories with something much happier.

Avo opened his eyes, his laughter slowing once he saw Mori grinning up at him. Mori pulled them both back up to their previous sitting position and let go of Avo’s wrists. Before Mori’s arms could drop, Avo intertwined their fingers and led their hands to rest in their lap; both halves relaxed into each other’s hold.

Avo had been staring down at their hands lost in thought but looked up a fraction as Mori rested his head on Avo’s shoulder, tiredly looking out at the trees. The sun was nearly low enough to be hidden behind the branches, golden light filtering through the leaves and casting a warm glow on the flora surrounding them. Mori struggled and failed to hold back a contented yawn, breaking the comfortable silence they had held. Avo let out an amused huff, shifting out of their hand-holding to wrap his arms around Mori’s lower half, letting his head rest against Mori’s.

“It seems our time is about up.” Avo murmured, eyes wandering the crashed escape pod sitting dead a short distance from them. Mori complained at his suggestion, but he knew deep down that Avo was right.

Now that he thought about it, Mori was surprised they managed to stay unfused for so long with almost no complications- well, complications that didn’t stem from the fact they were unfused. When it came to outer complications, however...he could make a shortlist of those. As much as he felt drawn to their need to fuse, he didn’t want to leave this moment, their first truly positive experience as themselves. Another yawn broke free, betraying what he wanted by expressing what he needed.

“I hate that you’re right,” Mori tried to speak through the yawn. His voice went soft, arms wrapping around his gem for comfort. “Promise me one thing, though? Steven’s memories...his memories as us. So many bad experiences...promise me we’ll try to balance them out with good ones?”

Avo could hear the worry lining Mori’s voice. He was almost surprised; did Mori really think they would never have another moment together? He brought his hands up to cup Mori’s face, gently lifting his head so they met eye to eye. Sure enough, Mori’s face was twisted in concern; Avo’s mouth tilted in an amused but sympathetic smile at the sincerity in Mori’s wish. Avo broke into a grin, a soft light emanating from his gem.

“Promise.” 

At Avo’s assurance, Mori’s expression softened to pure happiness, letting go of the breath he didn’t know he was holding. The glow grew brighter as Avo pulled Mori’s mouth to his one last time before the light started to overtake their forms. Mori had started to fall back from his sitting position with Avo following him, and before his back touched the ground they had re-fused. The soft pink light faded out, leaving Steven laying on the grass and looking up at the dusky sky; he sighed contentedly at the feeling of being himself again.

* * *

He laid for a little while to enjoy the cool air, relishing in the lack of hurt he felt compared to when he last existed. Eventually, he stood to collect his tossed shirt and jacket and put both back on, embarrassment creeping through him as he recalled both halves’ memories. He hoped checking his phone to figure out where he landed would distract him, but he felt his face flush as he involuntarily ran through both perspectives of what they- _he_ -just did. 

_Talk about self-love, huh._

Steven loudly huffed, trying to be annoyed but unable to stop the flustered smile that crossed his face. As embarrassing as it was, they were right; he’d rather remember that than all the times he was forcibly kept unfused. A sudden spark from inside the damaged pod made him jump, realizing he should probably focus on getting home considering his current scenario. The mission failed, his maybe-enemies escaped, it’s nearly dark, and his phone wasn’t able to tell him where he landed. 

On the bright side, it seemed he might still be able to call; plus, this forest looked similar to the one a short walk away from Little Homeworld. A quick gem-powered leap in the air proved that; the lights from the small town were bright against the darkened sky. As Steven floated back to the ground, he recalled Avo assuming they had been in ‘the middle of nowhere;’ they may not have been smack in the middle of Beach City, but really, couldn’t his gem have bothered to check? 

Landing on the ground, the sudden flustered anxiety from the idea of being found out at such a time reminded him of something else.

His eyes went wide as he smacked the side of his neck. Avo’s memories seemed to conflict with what Mori had known as fact. The blush came back full force as he hastily brought up the camera app on his phone.

 _Avo, you are_ so _dead next time I’m unfused!_

It seemed Avo had more control of his powers than Mori had thought, as Steven sported a very visible hickey on the side of his neck. Its placement was just high enough that his jacket collar couldn’t hide it, try as he might.

Steven let out a frustrated grumble, putting his phone back into his jacket with extra force. If it meant anything, at least this meant Avo also had to put up with trying to hide it. Still, he lifted his shirt enough to reveal his gem, bringing his other hand to flick the side of it in indignation. It sent a small jolt up his nerves, spreading goosebumps down his arms.

“Gah- you know who that was meant for!” Steven tugged his shirt back down, refusing to acknowledge the failed revenge. He suddenly recalled another memory as if it was manually pushed to the front of his mind, and blushed a darker crimson; another frustrated growl escaped his throat.

While he hadn’t been fully aware of the mark on the left side of his neck, he certainly remembered both giving and receiving the hickey decorated on the other side of his neck. 

“I can’t believe it, I’m so… _gay._ ” He crossed his arms in a stunned huff, absentmindedly staring with an abashed look at the wrecked ship. Turning his attention towards his surroundings, Steven wondered how no one had heard or acknowledged the crash. He figured he may as well start walking towards the gem town; but not before healing the two very conspicuous marks they both had left.

He had licked his pointer finger and brought it to one side of his neck before pausing, getting conflicting thoughts on whether he should or not. It’s not like he could offer any valid reasoning to be walking away from a ship crash with two hickeys, but on the other hand…

Steven had been staring at his finger as he tried to decide what to do as if it offered answers. When both halves of him finally agreed, his face scrunched in embarrassment as he wiped his finger on his shirt, deciding to leave it until he reached civilization. It’s not like anyone would see it until then, but that didn’t make the decision any less humiliating for Steven.

Finally heading off in the direction he saw Little Homeworld, he decided to keep this new...situation... to himself, at least until he was able to offer a reasonable explanation; if he ever needed one, anyways. At the rate those two were going however, he had a feeling he wasn’t going to be able to keep their updated relationship status under wraps. He resignedly sighed to himself, letting his head fall back, watching the stars come into view as the sunset behind him.

_Idiots._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Writing this was certainly a learning experience; also if the chapter count says 3/4 available, please ignore it, this IS the final chapter. Anyways- thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed! Pinky has some amazing ideas to throw these two into, so be on the lookout for their awesome work!  
> -Brain
> 
> I fixed the whole 3/4 thing dw about it uwu!! Also I have way too many fun AUs about these two and I want to update this account with ALL of them hdsfjdshfks, also Brain worked really hard on writing this chapter and I just had fun editing this into something even gayer. So kudos to them too <333 
> 
> OH YEAH!!! please leave some thoughts or kudos, we'll love them :D
> 
> \- Pinky <333
> 
> EDIT - About their names:  
>  _Avo: Amor Vincit Omnia (A.V.O)_ \- Love Conquers All  
>  _Mori: Memento Mori_ \- Remember You Must Die  
> really quite morbid but it's the truth about their conflicting natures, immortality vs mortality, how does everlasting love co-exist with death? 
> 
> \- Pinky to poor Brain at 1 am


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